By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA — There is a quiet, heavy feeling in the hallways of the Geneva New Life Assembly of God Church.
Church secretary Debbie Fowler closed her eyes Tuesday morning and remembered 20-year-old Joshua Pischura, who began attending the church with his family 17 years ago. Surrounded by his many sisters — there would eventually be 10 Pischura children — Joshua grew up in the church family and “was on fire for the Lord” Fowler said, when he died Thursday in a van rollover crash near Baker City, Ore.
Joshua Pischura and his sister, Katie Pischura, attended the Rocky Mountain Masters Commission in Colorado and were traveling
The group was heading to Portland to help staff the Super Computing conference, which was held last weekend at the Oregon Convention Center. The group was to work at the conference as a way to raise funds money for the commission’s mentoring program, Fowler said.
Fowler answered telephones Tuesday morning, explaining what needs to be done for the Pischura family, when prayer services will be held, and the condition of Katie Pischura, who was injured in the van crash that killed her 20-year-old brother, Joshua.
New Life Assembly of God church deacon Jim Klco said Joshua led his life to serve God.
“Josh had a forward look in his eyes, always,” Klco said. “You never had to worry about Josh. He knew his path and he was on it.”
Klco said he served as a Sunday school teacher for the Pischura children and he wasn’t surprised when Joshua Pischura decided to study to be a minister.
“I counterparted (Joshua) in a Christmas play several years ago where I played the devil and he played the angel Gabriel,” Klco said. “My role was to try to persuade Gabriel not to spread the word of God. It may have been a church play, but Josh never missed a line. He played the part with his heart. He had a burning desire for people to find the Lord and be saved.”
Klco said the Pischura family and the New Life Assembly of God church family is grieving the loss of Joshua and praying for fellow crash victim Taune Nicole Winter Pepper and the 14 crash survivors.
“We take comfort in knowing that if there was someone who was ready to meet God, it was Josh,” he said. “He was a positive person. A negative thing never came out of his mouth. You could see his hunger for his faith and for the Lord.”
Funeral arrangements for Joshua Pischura are pending. A memorial service will be held this weekend at the Rocky Mountain Masters Commission, Klco said.
